Saints take on Hull City looking to leap into 5th place, here EA Sports provide a few statistics ahead of the game to see if the odds are in our favour of achieving that.
Southampton v Hull - 15:00, Saturday 11th April
Southampton host Hull, looking to bounce back from a disappointing defeat at the hands of Everton. The Saints are still very much in the hunt for a European place, with a strong finish to the season now required.
Southampton may have suffered a defeat to the Toffees, but that wasn’t necessarily a result that warranted the level of performance, as they dominated possession. Unsurprisingly, Morgan Schneiderlin was central to this as he completed an impressive 28 passes in the opposition half — a total which was better than any of his teammates. If you think Schneiderlin will hit the back of the net this weekend, head to 888sport.com who have him at 24/5 to score at any time.
Schneiderlin’s level of performance was exceptional, as not only did he excel in attack, but he also put in a fantastic shift in defence, impressing with his eye for a tackle. The EA SPORTS Player Performance Index shows that he completed eighty percent of the challenges he attempted and also made the second most defensive contributions in the team (based on clearances, tackles won, interceptions and blocks), with ten.
Fellow midfielder Victor Wanyama also played a critical role in bossing the midfield, covering every blade of grass to shield the back four to great effect. The EA SPORTS Player Performance Index shows that he ran a total of 11.1km, which was the second most in the Southampton lineup, behind only Schneiderlin (11.9km).
Steve Bruce will be looking for his team to bounce back against the Saints, as they linger perilously close to the bottom three. The Tigers are only three points off the relegation places, so with just seven games to go, they remain rooted in trouble.
David Meyler’s red card for the Tigers meant that Stephen Quinn was taken off somewhat prematurely, to help balance the team out after being down to ten men. It was a pity for Quinn who up until that point had been spraying the ball around the park, completing an impressive 23 passes in the opposition half (the most in the Hull squad), at an average rate of a pass in the opposition half every 2.6 minutes.
If Hull are to survive in the division then they’ll need Ahmed Elmohamady to return to the form he displayed earlier in the season, dominating the right flank and swinging in menacing crosses. Elmohamady didn’t manage to find a man with his
crosses against Swansea, something which was a surprise as so far this campaign he has crossed the ball successfully 41 times, leading to three assists.
One of Hull’s areas of strength is in the engine room, with Tom Huddlestone and Jake Livermore adding a real chemistry to their midfield partnership. Livermore has always had great potential, something that resulted in an England call-up whilst he was still at Spurs, and he’s always had a tendency to run and run for the sake of the team. This was certainly the case against Swansea, as he ran a total of 12.4km - more than any other player in the Hull team. Livermore is an industry best 16/1 with 888sport.com to score at any time this weekend.
Data supplied by the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Select and manage your own team of stars at fantasy.premierleague.com or with FIFA Ultimate team.